History tends to repeat itself

Do you really think of this as true? Sure, people make the same mistakes, but that does not necessarily mean that it's all one big cycle. There are hundreds of different thinking minds, and infinite amounts of actions being taken place. Eventually, something will "repeat," and there may even be a pattern, but it's just because new things aren't tried.

It just sounds like a self-fulfilled prophecy to me.

Jerel Crespo wrote:

Do you really think of this as true? Sure, people make the same mistakes, but that does not necessarily mean that it's all one big cycle. There are hundreds of different thinking minds, and infinite amounts of actions being taken place. Eventually, something will "repeat," and there may even be a pattern, but it's just because new things aren't tried.

It just sounds like a self-fulfilled prophecy to me.

I can't really say, but I do know the similarities between Napoleon and Hitler are pretty interesting, especially their downfalls.

Michael Bird wrote:

Jerel Crespo wrote:

Do you really think of this as true? Sure, people make the same mistakes, but that does not necessarily mean that it's all one big cycle. There are hundreds of different thinking minds, and infinite amounts of actions being taken place. Eventually, something will "repeat," and there may even be a pattern, but it's just because new things aren't tried.

It just sounds like a self-fulfilled prophecy to me.

I can't really say, but I do know the similarities between Napoleon and Hitler are pretty interesting, especially their downfalls.

Go on.

Isn't the full saying "history is doomed to repeat itself if we don't learn from our mistakes"? Because I do agree, there are too many progressive ideas and new technological/scientific advances for history to keep repeating itself in the manner of a mechanical wheel of sorts.

However, even then, many of the things that humans had back in the early years, we still have now, in more advanced or disguised forms. We have bigger toys, but we still fight in wars, we still fall in love, we still have instruments to kill people with and we still break the law and are punished for it. With what we have come to know as human society, with its rigid walls, it's inevitable that some things will repeat themselves if we do not change them.

In fact, there were many mistakes in the past that we DID fix up, which is how we progressed as a society in the first place. Maybe someday we will have fixed up all of the loose ends.

Jerel Crespo wrote:

Michael Bird wrote:

Jerel Crespo wrote:

Do you really think of this as true? Sure, people make the same mistakes, but that does not necessarily mean that it's all one big cycle. There are hundreds of different thinking minds, and infinite amounts of actions being taken place. Eventually, something will "repeat," and there may even be a pattern, but it's just because new things aren't tried.

It just sounds like a self-fulfilled prophecy to me.

I can't really say, but I do know the similarities between Napoleon and Hitler are pretty interesting, especially their downfalls.

Go on.

Well we all know that Hitler got a little too sure of himself and went after Russia into their own country, during the winter. That is why he lost so terribly. Many think he actually had a great chance if he had pursued in the summer time. What is odd is how Napoleon Bonaparte did the same thing only a few hundred years before, attacking Russia during the winter in Russia’s own country. Historians believe that he, too, had a great chance for victory had he only waited out the season.

Another thing that I have found similar is the ancient Romans and the United States. They were very odd in choosing a republic government and we were odd for developing our democracy. They were an incredibly dominate nation and we are an incredibly dominate nation. They were very family oriented and so were we. They began to replace the family and good morals with entertainment (coliseums, plays) and we are also doing that (Hollywood).
But most of those are probably just similarities that I have forced together, I’ve just always thought that since I first learned about ancient Rome in 6th grade.

Michael Bird wrote:

Jerel Crespo wrote:

Michael Bird wrote:

Jerel Crespo wrote:

Do you really think of this as true? Sure, people make the same mistakes, but that does not necessarily mean that it's all one big cycle. There are hundreds of different thinking minds, and infinite amounts of actions being taken place. Eventually, something will "repeat," and there may even be a pattern, but it's just because new things aren't tried.

It just sounds like a self-fulfilled prophecy to me.

I can't really say, but I do know the similarities between Napoleon and Hitler are pretty interesting, especially their downfalls.

Go on.

Well we all know that Hitler got a little too sure of himself and went after Russia into their own country, during the winter. That is why he lost so terribly. Many think he actually had a great chance if he had pursued in the summer time. What is odd is how Napoleon Bonaparte did the same thing only a few hundred years before, attacking Russia during the winter in Russia’s own country. Historians believe that he, too, had a great chance for victory had he only waited out the season.

Another thing that I have found similar is the ancient Romans and the United States. They were very odd in choosing a republic government and we were odd for developing our democracy. They were an incredibly dominate nation and we are an incredibly dominate nation. They were very family oriented and so were we. They began to replace the family and good morals with entertainment (coliseums, plays) and we are also doing that (Hollywood).
But most of those are probably just similarities that I have forced together, I’ve just always thought that since I first learned about ancient Rome in 6th grade.

You absolutely just wrote my history essay for me. <3
I have to write about if the United States is following in the footsteps of the ancient Romans and if we are ultimately doomed.

Michael Bird wrote:

Jerel Crespo wrote:

Michael Bird wrote:

Jerel Crespo wrote:

Do you really think of this as true? Sure, people make the same mistakes, but that does not necessarily mean that it's all one big cycle. There are hundreds of different thinking minds, and infinite amounts of actions being taken place. Eventually, something will "repeat," and there may even be a pattern, but it's just because new things aren't tried.

It just sounds like a self-fulfilled prophecy to me.

I can't really say, but I do know the similarities between Napoleon and Hitler are pretty interesting, especially their downfalls.

Go on.

Well we all know that Hitler got a little too sure of himself and went after Russia into their own country, during the winter. That is why he lost so terribly. Many think he actually had a great chance if he had pursued in the summer time. What is odd is how Napoleon Bonaparte did the same thing only a few hundred years before, attacking Russia during the winter in Russia’s own country. Historians believe that he, too, had a great chance for victory had he only waited out the season.

Another thing that I have found similar is the ancient Romans and the United States. They were very odd in choosing a republic government and we were odd for developing our democracy. They were an incredibly dominate nation and we are an incredibly dominate nation. They were very family oriented and so were we. They began to replace the family and good morals with entertainment (coliseums, plays) and we are also doing that (Hollywood).
But most of those are probably just similarities that I have forced together, I’ve just always thought that since I first learned about ancient Rome in 6th grade.

Hitler also called his empire the third reich, of which Napoleons was considered the secod reich.
Then they lost their empires in such similar ways, irony?

Nick Culver wrote:

Michael Bird wrote:

Jerel Crespo wrote:

Michael Bird wrote:

Jerel Crespo wrote:

Do you really think of this as true? Sure, people make the same mistakes, but that does not necessarily mean that it's all one big cycle. There are hundreds of different thinking minds, and infinite amounts of actions being taken place. Eventually, something will "repeat," and there may even be a pattern, but it's just because new things aren't tried.

It just sounds like a self-fulfilled prophecy to me.

I can't really say, but I do know the similarities between Napoleon and Hitler are pretty interesting, especially their downfalls.

Go on.

Well we all know that Hitler got a little too sure of himself and went after Russia into their own country, during the winter. That is why he lost so terribly. Many think he actually had a great chance if he had pursued in the summer time. What is odd is how Napoleon Bonaparte did the same thing only a few hundred years before, attacking Russia during the winter in Russia’s own country. Historians believe that he, too, had a great chance for victory had he only waited out the season.

Another thing that I have found similar is the ancient Romans and the United States. They were very odd in choosing a republic government and we were odd for developing our democracy. They were an incredibly dominate nation and we are an incredibly dominate nation. They were very family oriented and so were we. They began to replace the family and good morals with entertainment (coliseums, plays) and we are also doing that (Hollywood).
But most of those are probably just similarities that I have forced together, I’ve just always thought that since I first learned about ancient Rome in 6th grade.

Hitler also called his empire the third reich, of which Napoleons was considered the secod reich.
Then they lost their empires in such similar ways, irony?

Nice catch! Can't believe I missed that one.

What Larry said does sound good to me though about the full saying actually being "history is doomed to repeat itself if we don't learn from our mistakes." That would make it much more understandable.

In general, it is unlikely, but if you're focusing upon a specific scenario there are only so many options to either cause or prevent a mistake... it's a given, really.

Repeating the mistake of dropping a bowl of cereal while hula hooping is a lot more likely than dropping a bowl of cereal in general.

History repeats itself.